WHAT IS MASTERING?
Mastering is the
final creative step in the recording process. Mastering
is where the overall levels, EQ balance,
compression/limiting, fadeouts, and song sequencing are
handled, and a final Master disk is created, ready for
mass replication. Great attention to the overall loudness
and the tone or EQ of the album (CD) is given here. The
result is a record that is balanced, consistent, and
plays back well in any listening environment whether it
be an audiophile system, a night club, a car stereo, a
jambox, a clock radio, headphones, an elevator, etc. It's
often easy to make mixes sound great in the studio, but
for that same mix to translate to the real world takes
careful and precise work, years of experience, and very
high quality equipment.
There is no further alteration to the sound after a
recording has been mastered, it's merely technical,
mechanical processes that create the many copies of the
master disk. For more information, please refer to
our guidelines page.